EU-USA OF EUROPE IS THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Joschka Fischer: United States of Europe is the only way to preserve EU influence European concerns about sovereignty loss are almost amusing, said former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer (Photo: Jürg Vollmer)
ANDREW WILLIS 13.01.2011 @ 09:28 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - At a large gathering on Wednesday evening (12 January) in the European Parliament, members of the Spinelli Group, a new network of prominent euro-federalists, called for an acceleration of European integration, arguing that a greater economic and political intertwining was urgently needed to solve the bloc's panoply of problems. To say that Europe is in a bad way would be euphemistic, the co-president of parliament's Green group and Spinelli member, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, said by way of introduction.Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer was equally pessimistic about the current state of affairs at the meeting, entitled A United States of Europe. He acknowledged that the EU's no-bailout clause was quickly forgotten in the face of Greek difficulties last year, and that eurobonds are there, just in a different shape, but was critical of France and Germany's reluctance to move forward with further integration. Despite all the kisses [between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel], France and Germany are going through a difficult period,he said.Only hours before, Paris and Berlin rejected a European Commission call to increase the lending capacity of the eurozone's temporary crisis management fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (ESFS).

Speaking in Hungary last week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made the case himself for greater European integration. It is not only the federalists who want more integration, it is also the markets. They are sending a clear message every day. So it is not an idea of utopia … it's a matter of realism, he told journalists.Scholars of the European Union are quick to point out that former crises have frequently acted as an impetus for spurts of rapid EU integration. While opposed to a federal EU, or a United States of Europe, philosopher Jean-Marc Ferry said the bloc's current debt difficulties offered an important opportunity.The main idea of the EU was peace. That has now gone with the fall of the Berlin Wall ... and the EU lacks legitimacy, he said. But the new legitimacy obviously comes from taming the financial markets and fighting the negative consequence of globalisation, he added.Concerned about losses of national sovereignty, opponents of a more unified system of European decision-making have traditionally favoured a more 'intergovernmentalist' approach, under which member-state leaders typically thrash out a course of action between themselves.This style would ultimately bring an end to Europe's already waning power on the global stage, warned Mr Fischer.One thing is clear, 400 years of trans-Atlantic hegemony are coming to an end. It's almost amusing to see how Europeans worry about a sovereignty loss [to the EU] as day by day, we lose it to emerging powers, he said.It is no longer Uncle Sam ... but the Chinese old uncles from Southeast Asia who are stepping in to help Europe with sovereign bond purchases.We need to hand over some budget prerogatives to the EU ... we need similar pension ages ... we are going to have to draw all the threads together ... [and] future integration steps need a political Europe, he said.

Brussels demands yet more austerity from member states
LEIGH PHILLIPS 12.01.2011 @ 19:01 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Despite hundreds of billions having already been slashed from EU member-state budgets in the wake of the economic crisis, the European Commission on Wednesday said the cuts have not been deep or radical enough and demanded still more austerity from European governments.At the launch of the first ever 'European Semester', a new annual process of oversight of national budget-drafting by Brussels, the EU executive outlined a series of stringent recommendations, dubbed the 'Annual Growth Survey', that it wants national capitals to adhere to.In a show of cross-ideological unity, a trio of Europe's top civil servants, the centre-right President Jose Manuel Barroso, liberal economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn and left-wing employment chief Laszlo Andor outlined the plans in the European capital.Mr Rehn told reporters that rigorous cuts and structural reforms were necessary for Europe to emerge from its ongoing debt crisis and return to growth.Without major changes in the way the European economy functions, Europe will stagnate and be condemned to a viscous circle of high unemployment, high debt and low growth, he said.Without intensified fiscal consolidation across member states, we are at mercy of market forces, he warned.

The commission said that bold and resolute policies are needed to turn around weak projected growth of around 1.5 percent for the EU over the next ten years and 1.25 percent for the eurozone.Brussels wants to see further cuts to budgets in 2012 on welfare reform - including more conditionality attached to benefits, and a raising of the premature retirement ages. Labour markets should also be made more flexible and strict and sustained wage moderation should be maintained.In 2011, we need to get our act together. We need to break the vicious circle of unsustainable debt, disruption in the financial markets and low economic growth in some member states, said President Barroso.We face a simple choice: a decade of debt or a generation of growth.Mr Andor for his part suggested that member states may want to index retirement ages to life expectency. Pension reforms however have proved highly controversial, with mass strikes in France over retirement age changes last year paralysing the country.The trio also called for more rapid restructuring of banks, a broadening of domestic tax bases and a move away from tax on labour toward indirect taxation.At the same time, the commission suggested that countries with large current-account surpluses should work to boost domestic demand as well.

The three also called for a hike in the effective lending capacity of the EU's bail-out mechanism, amid growing fears that the eurozone's rescue fund might be insufficient should Spain or Belgium knock on its doors.However, reacting to the suggestion, both France and Germany declared the current fund was big enough.
Following the publication of the ‘European Semester' recommendations, EU governments will in the spring consider the proposals.If EU premiers and presidents accept the commission's strategy at their March summit, they will then have to take on board the guidelines in developing their budgets for 2012.Afterward, while the commission and the European Council cannot block a national government's budget if it does not adhere to the recommendations, they can issue alerts, sanctions and, for eurozone countries, annual fines of 0.2 percent of a country's GDP. Non-compliance for three consecutive years with European Semester demands may result in fines of up to 0.5 percent of GDP.Based on 2009 figures, for a country the size of Spain, such a fine would amount to €5.25 billion.Such a shift in control over domestic spending decisions to the European level is not without controversy. While the commission on Wednesday stressed how the new framework represents in no way a limit to the sovereignty of national parliaments, Mr Barroso himself remarked that while member states were now ready to embrace EU-level economic governance, two to three years ago, they were not.

Collision course with democracy

The commission's proposals instantly provoked shock and outrage from trade unions.
Denouncing what he called Diktats ... being issued that are designed to lower living standards, John Monks, general secretary of the European Trades Union Congress accused commission officials of ignoring social dialogue and collective bargaining processes and directly intervening in the labour markets of these countries.The EU risks putting itself on a collision course with democracy, he added.The European Federation of Public Sector Unions called the commission's strategy appalling and went so far as to say it will oppose any further progress towards the internal market and EU integration until a substantial social agenda is introduced.EPSU deputy chief Jan Willem Goudriaan said the plans will encourage workers to begin opposing the EU: It will increasingly be difficult for workers and their unions to support the EU process if consistently used to undermine their positions and weaken their rights, and now even reduce pay.The Greens in the European Parliament were also quick to denounce the proposals as neo-liberal and socially blind.The commission has continued with its blinkered focus on austerity as the answer to Europe's economic woes, said the group's economic spokesman, Philippe Lamberts. The flawed neoliberal approach has clearly showed its limits, yet the commission wants member states to persist with and intensify austerity measures ignoring their potentially negative macroeconomic impacts, as well as the consequences for wages and welfare, he added.

The centre-right European People's Party however cheered the recommendations.I welcome the start of the European Semester because it's the first tangible step to real economic governance in the EU, said Jyrki Katainen, vice-president of the EPP and Finland's finance minister.If we manage to co-ordinate our efforts through this new process, the EU will become stronger and more resilient to potential pressures from the world markets, he said.

New Campaign: We Can't Lose Jerusalem
Reported: 04:18 AM - Jan/14/11

The Jerusalem Municipality has come out with a new campaign against the planned state cuts in the city's budget. Entitled We must not lose Jerusalem, the campaign ads will begin airing on Friday in the media. The goal of the ads is to remind the government that Jerusalem is a national mission and the government, together with the municipality, has a duty to continue the growth in the capital. The campaign also includes extensive activities and promoting of legislation for Jerusalem in the Knesset.

Israel troops on alert after Lebanon govt falls
By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press – Thu Jan 13, 12:47 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israeli troops in the north were on alert Thursday over worries that the political turmoil in Lebanon might spill over into renewed violence on their shared border, following the collapse of the Lebanese government.The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and its allies threw the already volatile Lebanon into chaos on Wednesday by pulling out of the government and causing it to collapse.
Hezbollah, which clashed with Israel in a monthlong war in 2006, bolted over the government's continued cooperation with a U.N. tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.Hezbollah expects the tribunal to indict some of its members. It timed the dissolution of the government to coincide with the White House visit of Lebanon's current prime minister, Hariri's son Saad.

A senior officer in Israel's northern command said commanders were following events in Lebanon very closely for any sign Hezbollah might try to heat up the already jittery northern border to deflect attention from the political turmoil.Though troops have raised their level of alert, reserves have not been called up and no regular troops have been moved north from other areas, the officer said.He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose military tactics.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom on Thursday called the situation in Lebanon very fragile. He said the government crisis is an internal Lebanese issue, but that Israel has to be prepared for every scenario.Retired general Yaakov Amidror told Army Radio the prevailing Israeli assessment is that Hezbollah has no interest at this point in a war with Israel. Both the militant group — and more important, Iran — prefer to keep Hezbollah primed to assault Israel in the event Iran is attacked, Amidror said.In the current situation, Amidror said he would advise the military to cast aside all these learned assessments from me and others because the situation in Lebanon is so unsettled.Things are liable to slip out of the hands of decision-makers, he said. You never know in such a volatile and delicate situation, where everyone has a lot of weapons, a lot of resentment, a lot of frustration — you never know where it could lead.

Israel's war with Hezbollah in 2006 was touched off by a Hezbollah border raid. Israel invaded Lebanon and Hezbollah retaliated with nearly 4,000 rockets fired into northern Israel in fighting that killed around 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis, according to official counts from each side.The Israel-Lebanon border has been largely quiet since. Hezbollah hasn't fired a rocket into Israel in the past four years — though Palestinian groups have — and the killing of an Israeli officer by Lebanese army fire in August was the military's first fatality on the frontier since 2006.But although the U.N. truce that ended the fighting forbade Hezbollah to rearm, Israel believes the group has restocked its arsenal with even more powerful weapons.

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI JAN 14,2011

09:30 AM -1.25
10:00 AM +).04
10:30 AM -9.12
11:00 AM +5.05
11:30 AM +18.10
12:00 PM +24.67
12:30 PM +29.48
01:00 PM +30.31
01:30 PM +33.64
02:00 PM +52.03
02:30 PM +60.32
03:00 PM +50.10
03:30 PM +40.20
04:00 PM +55.48 11,787.38

S&P 500 1293.24 +9.48

NASDAQ 2755.30 +20.01

GOLD 1,360.30 -26.70

OIL 91.66 +0.26

TSE 300 13,464.10 +82.60

CDNX 2270.98 -18.04

S&P/TSX/60 771.88 +4.74

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -6 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -34 points at low today.
Dow +38 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,363.30.OIL opens at $90.55 today.
GOLD IS DOWN ANOTHER $30.00 TODAY AT ITS LOW SO FAR. $1,355.30

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -34 points at low today so far.
Dow +62 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -34 points at low today.
Dow +62 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,427.40 (NOT AT CLOSE)

Van Rompuy: Absurd to treat eurozone like Ukraine or Argentina
LEIGH PHILLIPS 13.01.2011 @ 19:39 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has lashed out at bond vigilantes over the treatment of peripheral eurozone economies in recent months.Speaking in London after a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday (13 January), Mr Van Rompuy described recent events as absurd and said the likes of Greece and Portugal should not be treated the same as poor countries: Recent market developments are sometimes rather strange. The spreads now show default risks for some eurozone countries bigger than for emerging countries like Ukraine or Argentina: that is absurd.Give these countries a chance, he added.He described the treatment of the eurozone periphery as irrational because of the euro's sound fundamentals. Economic growth in 2010 has been quite good ... Market participants should not underestimate our political determination (to deal with the crisis).Even as he was speaking, major eurozone states Spain and Italy held successful bond auctions, following on from a similar success met by Portugal, the most recent member state to join the bail-out death row. The rates the two countries were forced to offer was still up on previous auctions, however.Spain sold €3 billion worth of five-year bonds at a rate of 4.54, up roughly a percentage point on its last such auction in November. Italy was successful in its issuance of €6 billion in five-year debt, which saw rates of 3.67 percent, up from 3.24 percent also in November, and in its auction of €3 billion in 15-year debt, with rates of 5.06 percent, up on 4.81 percent.The relative success of the sales suggests the intervention of the European Central Bank in the bond market is helping to keep rates subdued. The ECB moves are nonetheless controversial due to the risk of inflation, with the central bank having now spent a total of around €74 billion on such purchases on Greek, Irish and Portuguese bonds. In related news, the ECB's governing council in its first meeting of the new year on Thursday decided to maintain interest rates unchanged at one percent, suggesting the bank is still focussed on putting out crisis fires and less worried about the threat from inflation.The move comes despite a climb in inflation in the eurozone to 2.2 percent, slightly beyond the bank's annual target rate of below but close to two percent. The increased inflationary pressure is likely the result of soaring oil and food prices as investors move into commodities because of lack of other opportunities.

Fillon: Britain must support deeper integration'

Separately on Thursday, French prime minister Francois Fillon was also in London meeting with his UK counterpart pushing for British support for moves towards greater co-ordination of economic and social policies across the eurozone.What we need is to strengthen our co-operation. The eurozone governments need to put in place a strategy which enables us to harmonize our fiscal policy and how we organize our economies, he told reporters after the meeting at Downing Street. I've asked the UK to look at the arguments for harmonisation in a favourable light.He added: I'm not asking the UK to join the eurozone ... [the] British want to remain British.
Prime Minister Cameron backed the idea of harmonised economic governance for euro-using countries, but said the UK wants nothing to do with it and ruled out participation in any further national bail-outs.We want a strong eurozone and want it to sort out its problems, but we are not joining the eurozone and won't be drawn into fresh and new mechanisms within the eurozone. He added: Let me be absolutely clear: Britain is not a member of the eurozone and we're not going to join the eurozone as long as I'm prime minister.Earlier in the day, writing in the Times of London, Mr Fillon had voiced concern over the UK's intentions.The question is: is the UK ready to accept or encourage greater integration of the eurozone or is the UK distrustful of that and will it create obstacles and make it more difficult to happen? he said.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Lebanon crisis raises risk of conflict on EU's southern fringe
ANDREW RETTMAN 13.01.2011 @ 09:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The threat of a fresh and potentially contagious Middle East conflict has sharply increased after the collapse of the Lebanese government. But EU structures can do little to influence the situation.The crisis unfolded on Wednesday (12 January) when 10 ministers linked to the militant Shia Muslim group Hezbollah and another minister quit the coalition government, forcing its demise. Hezbollah took the step in protest that Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a pro-Western Sunni Muslim, is giving money to an international tribunal on the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, his father.Saad Hariri will now take charge of a caretaker administration while President Michel Suleiman launches talks to form a new power-sharing deal.The walkout is widely understood as an attempt to blackmail the tribunal, which Hezbollah has called an Israeli project, to avoid naming the group as the culprits.

Hezbollah is the main military force in Lebanon and has in recent years tried to establish itself as a legitimate political authority. But an anti-Hezbollah ruling would undermine its position by depicting it as the agent of foreign powers Syria and Iran. Commentators, such as former EU Middle East advisor Alastair Crooke, who now heads an NGO in Beirut, have said that the situation is highly volatile, but could still end peacefully.Lebanon as recently as 2008 saw sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni factions. Meanwhile, Israel fears that a conflict in Lebanon could see Hezbollah attack Israel in an attempt to shore up support by drawing in a foreign enemy. In 2006, Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon following Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli targets. It killed around 1,300 Lebanese citizens, but support for Hezbollah soared.A nightmare scenario could see fellow Shia militants Hamas launch parallel strikes on Israel out of Gaza. One independent expert on Hezbollah, Avi Issacharoff, a journalist for the left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz, believes that Hezbollah also has agents in Europe ready to attack Jewish and Israeli targets.Hezbollah is putting a gun to our heads to take this trial away, an Israeli contact told EUobserver on a visit to the region late last year. If there is a conflict, it won't come from just one side - all hell will break loose.The main EU player in Lebanon is its former colonial master, France. The late Mr Hariri had strong ties with the French establishment and was a personal friend of former French president Jacques Chirac.

Saad Hariri, who was on a trip to Washington when his government fell, is expected to arrive in Paris on Thursday.A spokesman for the US State Department, Philip J. Crowley, said on Wednesday: We're working with the Lebanese government and other partners who share our interest in stability and justice for Lebanon, including France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, on next steps that will protect the work of the tribunal and help to achieve stability in Lebanon.Hezbollah is presenting a false choice for Lebanon of justice or stability. We think that Lebanon deserves both.A senior EU diplomat stationed in the region told this website that there is little that EU structures can do to maintain the peace. All we can do is to help strengthen the Hariri party economically and politically,the contact said. Another Israeli source counselled the EU not to appease Hezbollah in the name of stability: If the EU wants to be taken seriously when it talks about support for democracy and fundamental values, siding with Hezbollah for the sake of realpolitik is not an option.EU countries Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain also have personnel in Unifil, the 13,000-man-and-woman-strong UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.The UN force has little credibility in Israel in terms of providing hard security, however. Unifil has in the recent past failed to stop Hezbollah fighters from launching small-scale strikes on Israeli patrols south of the Lebanese border.

Golani Soldiers Swear In at the Kotel
by Elad Benari JAN 14,11

On Wednesday, the inaugural ceremony of the Golani Brigade took place at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem. While IDF swearing in ceremonies often take place at the Kotel, the Golani ceremony was especially meaningful as this was the first time that it had taken place in the Kotel. For the past 22 years, these ceremonies have been held at the division’s training base.The IDF’s website reported that the Golani Brigade’s trademark brown berets could be seen filling the Western Wall Plaza as the soldiers stood in excitement, waiting to swear their loyalty to the IDF and to the State of Israel.The special atmosphere could especially be felt when brigade commander Colonel Ofek Buchris spoke to the soldiers:Today we swear allegiance to defend our homeland and we operate out of this commitment, he said. After more than 20 years, there is no place more appropriate to swear allegiance than the Kotel, a place that combines the old with the new and expresses the depth of our connection to our homeland.The excitement was even felt among the veteran commanders who have experienced many swearing in ceremonies, none of which has been as exciting as the one in the Kotel.As a company commander I have experienced quite a few swearing ceremonies, yet I was still very excited during this one, said a commander in Golani’s 12th Battalion. Standing in front of the Kotel with the soldiers and the flags around gave me chills.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

MK Shama to Initiate Bill Preventing Demolition of Peretz Home
by Elad Benari JAN 14,11

MK Carmel Shama Hacohen (Likud) will present next week a bill to the Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation. The bill will state that it would not be permitted to destroy a home with people living in it in Judea and Samaria without permission from the Knesset’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee. The law would apply to existing demolition orders, such as those against the home of the fallen soldier Major Eliraz Peretz, who was killed last year in a battle with terrorists.

Joining Shamah Hacohen in initiating the bill are Mks Yulia Shamalov-Berkowitz, Ze'ev Elkin, and Aryeh Eldad. The proposed legislation states that an IDF commander shall not order the demolition of a building owned by an Israeli citizen, a corporation registered in Israel or a corporation established by law in Israel, but with the approval of the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee.The bill’s explanatory notes say that construction and demolition permit considerations in Judea and Samaria are different than in other places and such require greater sensitivity. Currently, the legal authority on decisions concerning the demolition of homes in Judea and Samaria is the IDF commander in the region, but in practice the defense minister is the sole authority, read the notes.The purpose of the bill is to give the authority to the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee so that such a fateful and important decision is not in the hands of one person but will be made by a number of MKs who shall have all the considerations, including military and security considerations. In addition, this legislation will create a normative basis of hypersensitivity and will serve as an additional brake before a decision regarding the demolition of homes of fallen IDF soldiers is made.MK Shama Hacohen said of the bill: Today, the authority who makes the decision is the defense minister who is one person. The authority must be given to members of Knesset. It is obvious that the defense minister and Knesset members both have political considerations but the decision cannot solely be the minister’s. I am sure that the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will operate according to the above considerations so that military and security considerations will also be taken into account.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked the High Court for a one-month extension to provide an updated answer to a Peace Now motion against Jewish homes in a Samaria neighborhood, including the Peretz home. The Defense Ministry's request says that Barak, as well as the IDF and the police, are checking possible alternatives to the demolition of the homes and that the matter will be brought before Attorney General Yehudah Weinstein.Barak told the court that the Defense Ministry and the IDF have been conducting a detailed survey of the land upon which the homes stand, to determine what part of it, if any, was not legally appropriated.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Guyana recognizes a Palestinian state
dm/kfk – Thu Jan 13, 7:16 pm ET

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana has recognized Palestinian statehood, joining a string of other South American nations in a push for Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate a peace deal.A Thursday foreign ministry statement says Guyana hopes increasing recognition by nations will contribute to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the creation of lasting peace and stability in the region.Palestinians are increasingly lobbying nations for recognition as leverage toward an elusive peace deal with Israel. Several South American nations have recognized Palestinian statehood in recent weeks.Israeli officials have reacted to the declarations by calling them meaningless and counterproductive to the peace process.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

More than 500 dead in Brazil's worst-ever disaster
by Marcelo Lluberas - JAN 14,11

TERESOPOLIS, Brazil (AFP) – Brazil is suffering its worst-ever natural disaster after mudslides near Rio de Janeiro that killed more than 500 people, according to the latest toll Friday.Municipal officials in the Serrana region just north of Rio told reporters that at least 506 people were killed, surpassing the 437 killed in a 1967 mudslide tragedy that up until now seen as the biggest (disaster) in Brazil, according to the news website G1.It was feared more bodies were yet to be discovered as rescuers finally arrived in villages cut off because of destroyed roads and bridges in the region.Efforts to locate survivors and bodies were going on under the risk of further mudslides, as rain continued to fall on the waterlogged region, making it even more unstable.It's very overwhelming. The scenes are very shocking, President Dilma Rousseff said after visiting the area Thursday.She pledged strong action by her government, which has already released 470 million dollars in initial emergency aid and sent seven tons of medical supplies.The catastrophe was seen as her first big test since taking power two weeks ago, taking over from her popular predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Storms early Wednesday dumped the equivalent of a month's rain in just a few hours before dawn, sending mudslides slicing through towns and hamlets, destroying homes, roads and bridges and knocking out telephone and power lines.The worst affected towns were Novo Friburgo, which recorded 225 deaths, Teresopolis, with 223 deaths, and Petropolis, with 39 deaths, according to municipal officials. Another 19 fatalities were registered in the village of Sumidouro.The toll of dead from this one disaster was higher than the 473 rain-related deaths recorded for all of Brazil over the span of 2010.Churches and police stations were turned into makeshift morgues, the smell of decomposing corpses heavy in the warm air. Thousands of survivors took refuge in shelters.Outside one morgue in Teresopolis, crowds looked at photos of the dead, searching for loved ones.I can't go inside. I don't have courage to, said one woman, Ana Maria, 40.You have no idea how hard it is to see the bodies of so many children... It's horrible, one fireman there told AFP.Elsewhere in the town, in a gymnasium, hundreds of people left homeless by the calamity sat around on mattresses, still in shock, some injured.Edmar Da Rosa, a 44-year-old laborer whose face was badly lacerated, looked lost and unable to comprehend the deaths of family members.He said a retaining wall fell on part of his house that he shared with his wife, three children and a grandson.My wife died. My grandson ended up dying. And the others are hurt, he said.A few meters (feet) away, 59-year-old Joao de Lima clutched a doll with desolation written on his face. I lost my four daughters and everything I had,he said softly.

More than 1 Million Cut Off in Sri Lanka's Deluge
By AMANTHA PERERA / COLOMBO -TIME-JAN 14,11

When the rains began on Dec. 26 along the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, they brought with them a foreboding sense of unease. The day after Christmas still gives the chills to those living here since the day six years ago when the Asian tsunami pulverized communities living along the beach. This year, the nightmare has returned, raining almost continuously now for over fifteen days over an area of about 4000 square miles. According to data from the Meteorology Department, it has not rained like this in the worst-affected district of Batticaloa since 1917. The whole of Batticaloa town is like a big tank, says Kirubantharasa Janoshini, a resident of Batticoloa. The main roads look like large, nasty rivers. (Watch a video about the final days of Sri Lanka's civil war.)

By the morning of Jan. 13, over one million persons have been cut-off by floods along Sri Lanka's eastern seaboard and nearby districts. The Disaster Management Centre, the main government body overseeing the massive relief effort, said that 280,000 had sought refuge in temporary camps set up at schools, temples, government buildings and anywhere else flood victims felt safe. Only 21 deaths had been reported with one person listed as missing. The government has deployed 28,000 service personnel and police to assist the relief effort and also set aside four Bell transport helicopters. But inclement weather has not made air transport easy; even President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to cut short his inspection tour to the east.
Sri Lanka is used to flash flooding. Since last May, the country has been hit by two large incidents in May and November that together affected close to a million people. In November, as the yearly monsoon set in, the capital Colombo was waterlogged on numerous occasions. But the intensity of this month's rains is something that no one counted on. Unless you are at a welfare camp, you have to go and locate relief supplies, Janoshini said. It is very difficult.Kirupairajah Gowriswaran, a regional official with UNICEF, says that over 90% of Batticaloa's residents have been cut-off by the floods. Some remote parts of the district were totally cut-off as gushing floodwaters flowed over low lying areas. On Thursday morning, the village of Panichchankerni, about 37 miles (60 km) north of Batticaloa, was inaccessible as the main bridge on the only access road was four feet under water, residents and military officials said. Some of these villages are only reachable by boat now,says Chanuka Wattegama, a volunteer with the local relief group Sarvodaya.

Until yesterday, supplies to Batticaloa and the adjoining Ampara district were disrupted as persistent rains flooded large stretches of the main road. The water level was so high that people were using the elevated rail track to get out, Karunarathne Gamage a resident in another nearby district told TIME. By this morning, weather had eased enough for some supply vehicles to attempt to reach Batticaloa via the region's main road.The floods are certain to leave a large relief and reconstruction bill in their wake. Over 17,000 houses will need major repairs, and the Highways Ministry said that parts of 152 roads, including main highways, are already in need of major repairs. Agrarian Minister S M Chandrasena said that over 200,000 acres of rice paddy has gone under water, and initial assessments by the U.N. have found that over 200 small reservoirs in Batticaloa had been breached and water was flowing out. Sarvodaya's Wattegama says that as long as rains persist, Batticaloa will remain nervous that the nearby Unnichchi reservoir could burst its banks, sending more unwelcome water through the district's streets.As the extent of the disaster has become clear, official appeals for assistance have begun to pour in. On Wednesday, the government released a list of items that were urgently needed in the east, including over five million water purification tablets, over a million plates and cups, medicine and clothes. The government had allocated over a million dollars for immediate relief efforts; the World Food Programme also began providing food to 400,000 on Jan. 10, with an allocation of around $500,000. In Colombo, officials with the U.N. relief effort say it is running dangerously low on funds and will make a fresh appeal for funding in the next few days. On the ground out east, Wattegama says that relief was still ad-hoc and informal: I did not see a proper coordinated structure even on January 12.

Still, the U.N. says that response coordination is improving as teams have been able to reach flood-hit areas. There are some problems because we can't reach some villages, but with the weather easing we are getting to more places, says Palitha Bandara Assistant Director of the Disaster Management Centre. The immediate assistance will have to continue for at least a fortnight, relief workers on the ground told TIME, then the large repairs will have to begin. The bigger challenge will be restoring roads, the reservoirs, houses and the agriculture land, Wattegama says. Who will pick up that bill remains to be seen.

Brazil flood death toll rises to 482, more feared
By Sergio Queiroz - Thu Jan 13, 7:09 pm ET

TERESOPOLIS, Brazil (Reuters) – Rescue workers dug for survivors on Thursday and struggled to reach areas cut off by floods and landslides that have killed at least 482 people in one of Brazil's deadliest natural disasters in decades.Torrents of mud and water set off by heavy rains left a trail of destruction through the mountainous Serrana region near Rio de Janeiro, toppling houses, buckling roads and burying entire families as they slept.It's like an earthquake struck some areas, said Jorge Mario, the mayor of Teresopolis, where more than 200 people were killed and scores more are feared to be dead.The death toll is going to climb a lot. There are a lot of people buried who can't get help because rescue teams can't get there, Mario said, adding that three of the town's neighborhoods were destroyed by the flooding.

Hillsides and riverbanks in the area, about 60 miles north of Rio, collapsed after the equivalent of a month's rain fell in 24 hours from Tuesday night.More heavy rain is forecast, complicating rescue efforts and raising the risk of further mudslides.
The homes of rich and poor alike were swept away in and around Teresopolis and other towns, likely causing billions of dollars in damage. But the brunt of the disaster was borne by poorer rural residents in houses built in risky areas without formal planning permission.The floods have not affected Brazil's main export crops -- soy, sugar cane, oranges and coffee -- but could push up local food prices further as the small Serrana region is an important producer of fruit and vegetables for the Rio area.Rio, famed for its beaches and Carnival, will co-host soccer's World Cup in 2014 and host the Olympics in 2016.Rescuers tried to haul residents from raging floodwaters and went through the ruins of homes in search of survivors, often finding only corpses. One success came when a 6-month-old baby was rescued from the rubble of a house, drawing thunderous cheers from residents.One woman held a dog in the ruins of her house as powerful waters tore at the remaining walls. She grabbed a rope thrown by residents from a nearby rooftop and eventually was pulled to safety, after dropping the dog into the vicious current.In Nova Friburgo, a rural town first settled by Swiss immigrants, at least 200 people died, local officials said.

President Dilma Rousseff, facing her first major challenge since taking office on January 1, called the disaster a tragedy that could not be blamed only on nature.
Housing in areas of risk is the rule in Brazil rather than the exception, she said in Rio after flying over the flooded region and visiting Nova Friburgo, where much of the damage was done to homes built precariously at the base of steep hills.When there aren't housing policies, where are people who earn no more than twice the minimum wage going to live?

LINES OF BODIES

Landslides and flash floods are common in much of Brazil, often exposing poor urban planning and a lack of preventive action by authorities.Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper said it was the worst natural disaster to hit Brazil in four decades. Raging floodwaters and rivers of mud submerged some houses and left cars crumpled like tin cans. More than 13,500 people were left homeless, authorities said.Rescue teams had yet to reach several of the worst-hit parts of Teresopolis, including one neighborhood where about 150 houses were believed to have been destroyed.Dozens of bodies were lined up outside a police station in the city center awaiting identification before being moved to a church, taxi driver Vinicius Bittencourt told Reuters.The bodies were there because there is no more space in the morgue, he said. People are walking in the street crying. I've seen people carrying dead children wrapped in blankets.At least 39 people also died in Petropolis, a picturesque town nestled in the mountains that served as the summer residence for Brazil's royal family in the 19th century. Another 18 people were killed in nearby Sumidouro.
Firefighters used heavy machinery to remove debris blocking their path to some of the worst-affected areas.The situation is critical but we have to advance, we can't stop, said fire department colonel Jose Paulo Miranda.Rousseff has earmarked 780 million reais ($460 million) in emergency aid for the region. The government said it was sending 210 troops from the National Public Security Force to help identify bodies.Two navy helicopters are assisting rescue operations and the navy is also sending a mobile field hospital to the area.(Additional reporting by Eduardo Simoes, Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Pedro Fonseca; Writing by Stuart Grudgings and Todd Benson; Editing by Kieran Murray and John O'Callaghan)

Snow-covered Mass. lifts state of emergency
By Lauren Keiper – Thu Jan 13, 7:05 pm ET

BOSTON (Reuters) – Massachusetts lifted its state of emergency on Thursday as New England dug out from under deep snow following a winter storm that blasted the region with high winds and chilly temperatures.The storm blanketed eastern New York and western New England with anywhere from 8 inches to unofficial reports of 38 inches of snow in Berkshire County in Massachusetts, said meteorologist Brian Frugis with the National Weather Service in Albany, New York.Despite the snow from Wednesday's storm, Massachusetts emergency management teams and state police reported no major accidents.The road clean-up was excellent, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. We attribute that to the fact that folks stayed off the roads yesterday.Massachusetts lifted the state of emergency it had declared at noon on Wednesday, at the height of the storm. Such declarations are typically made in order to gain access to emergency funding and to mobilize certain resources, such as the National Guard, to cope with the storm's impact.

Power outages that affected more than 100,000 homes at the peak of the storm were reduced to just 3,500, said Judge.Traffic patterns at Boston's Logan International Airport also were returning to normal.Two active runways were available at Logan, with airlines operating at about 90 percent of a typical schedule, said Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella.Winds that were a major factor in Wednesday's storm were likely to linger in the 10 to 25 mph range, which may cause snow to blow and drift, say meteorologists.The winds were creating a significant chill in the air throughout the Northeast that was likely to keep the snow from melting, according to Accuweather.com meteorologists.Wednesday's blizzard-like conditions did set some records, including a new snowstorm record in Hartford, Connecticut of 24 inches and a new snowiest day in Worcester, Massachusetts with 21.1 inches, according to The Weather Channel.The heavy snow did not cause major outages or accidents in Vermont, said Mark Bosma, spokesman for Vermont Emergency Management.In fact, Bosma said the state's ski industry is doing backflips right now over the fresh snow ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.

The latest storm to batter the Northeast came on the heels of separate weather systems that wreaked havoc across the South and Midwest.The potency of Wednesday's snowstorm came to be after two separate storm systems merged together, said Accuweather.com senior meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.The storm that leveled the South with snow and ice Sunday into Monday was having lingering effects.Several southern states battled snow and ice for a fourth straight day on Thursday as overnight temperatures well below freezing slowed efforts to clear roads, but there was a sense of optimism that an end might be in sight.It's supposed to be 40 degrees tomorrow, Crystal Paul-Buchanan, spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said.Freight is moving and stores are being restocked. Things are looking good.Even so, many schools in the Atlanta area remained closed and roads remained icy in spots, but government offices and courts reopened. The upper northwest corner of South Carolina was not expected to thaw until Sunday. Roads and highways remain covered in frozen slush with patches of black ice although interstates and major roads are drivable, officials said.In Greenville, one of the state's hardest hit cities, 17 snow plows have been working around the clock.I've only been here six years, and people were telling me that this was the biggest snowstorm since 1988, said Mike Murphy, Greenville's director of public works.(Additional reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta and Harriet McLeod in Charleston, South Carolina; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)

Brisbane flood clean-up starts as damage emerges
Eddie Safarik – JAN 14,11

BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) – The swamped Australian city of Brisbane has begun the heartbreaking task of cleaning up after its worst floods in decades, as more troops were ordered to help victims of the disaster.But as the waters drained from the country's third largest city, revealing the full horror of the devastation wrought when the Brisbane River burst its banks, they barrelled towards country towns downstream threatening more damage.Brisbane residents nervously returned to see what remained of their homes and businesses, as the muddy brown soup that had covered buildings up to their roofs dropped to reveal its aftermath.There is a lot of heartache and grief as people start to see for the first time what has happened to their homes and their streets, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh warned a day after the river peaked.In some cases we have street after street after street where every home has been inundated to the roof level, affecting thousands of people.She urged locals to help each other as the city of two million people began its daunting post-war rebuilding effort.

I encourage people please to make an effort to help your friends, help your families, she urged, as locals slopped out thick layers of stinking mud from their homes and businesses and tried to salvage any possessions that survived.The river had dropped two metres from its peak of 4.46 metres (14 feet, eight inches) reached Thursday, exposing damage that will add dramatically to Queensland's estimated flood reconstruction bill of Aus$5 billion ($5 billion).More than 26,000 homes were flooded in Brisbane, 11,900 of them completely, leaving their owners set to be homeless for weeks or even months. Electricity remained cut to 66,000 homes, and many key roads were still blocked.An unbearable stench filled the air while the twisted remains of boats, parts of buildings, a large chunk of a concrete walkway and other debris lay on mud banks throughout the city.Gumboot-clad Brisbane resident and former prime minister Kevin Rudd handed out hand sanitiser to victims of the floods as they tackled the chaos.Prime Minister Julia Gillard doubled the number of soldiers combatting the deadly floods to 1,200, the nation's biggest deployment for a natural disaster since 1974.South of Brisbane, residents of the 6,000-strong town of Goondiwindi waited nervously as flooding tested the town's levee, on the verge of becoming the next victims of Queensland's once-in-a-century floods that have swamped an area larger than France and Germany combined.We are expecting this to hold but we are in uncharted territory, said mayor Graeme Scheu as the water lapped just below the 11-metre (36 feet) riverbank levee, after hospitals and nursing homes in the town were evacuated.Back in Brisbane, police arrested three people for looting in what they branded a disturbing development. So far 10 people have been arrested on such charges.

This is very, very disturbing but can I add that these people were located by the proactive patrols being undertaken by our water police, said Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart.At least 15 people have been confirmed killed in the floods in the last four days, most of them when flash floods hit the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, and the town of Toowoomba on Monday. Dozens of others are missing.
Gillard and Bligh were to visit the town of Grantham in the Lockyer Valley, which was the epicentre of the destruction that saw entire houses washed away and cars tossed around in the water like paper cups. Officials said the body of one of those who died was recovered 80 kilometres from where that person went missing, indicating the possibility that the bodies of all the flood's victims might never be found.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Strong quake hits New Caledonia islands in Pacific
– Thu Jan 13, 12:25 pm ET

SYDNEY – A strong earthquake hit the waters off a French territory in the South Pacific early Friday. A widespread tsunami was not expected.The U.S Geological Survey reported a 7.0-magnitude quake centered on New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands hit overnight. The remote chain is about 1,000 miles (1,800 kilometers) east of the Australian city of Brisbane.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake, though only three miles (4.5 kilometers) deep, was not expected to trigger a widespread, destructive tsunami. It added, however, that temblors of such strength sometimes trigger smaller, local waves.There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.The area in the southern Pacific is sparsely populated and sees frequent seismic activity, including strong earthquakes.

13 January 2011 Last updated at 08:30 ET 10 Christian names you don't really hearBy Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine

The Pope says children should be given truly Christian names. But why have some saints and biblical figures inspired baby names, but not others? Our playgrounds are blessed with a multitude of Daniels, Sarahs and Adams, but not quite so many Amminadabs, Zipporahs or Habakkuks.The names of saints Andrew, Catherine and Frances might echo down the ages, but the phone book is not exactly bursting with Abbos, Etheidwithas and Leocritas.But could these holy, if inexplicably unfashionable, titles be due a comeback? In a speech, Pope Benedict XVI urged parents to name their offspring in the Christian tradition, and bequeath an unmistakable sign that the Holy Spirit will allow the person to blossom in the bosom of the Church.In doing so, the pontiff has reiterated the Catholic Church's canon law, which cautions against baptising children in a manner foreign to Christian sensibility.

He has also surely tapped into a growing public backlash against celebrities burdening their progeny with such profane appellations as Brooklyn, Peaches and Princess Tiaamii.Should the British public choose to follow his Holiness's advice, there are plenty of names of saints and from the Bible's Old and New Testaments from which to choose - but, for whatever reason, some have proved more enduring than others.

Here are 10 rarely-adopted names from this Judeo-Christian tradition.

1. The name of Jezebel, the Queen of Israel, later became shorthand for a fallen woman. This is a case of a name attracting a degree of notoriety, says social psychologist Dr Martin Skinner of Warwick University. No-one is going to give their child a name that has taken on negative associations - in this case, with a certain type of woman. To most people, this is better known than the fact that Jezebel was, in the Old Testament, like Eve, Ruth or Naomi.

King Nebuchadnezzar II 2. Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonian empire. His exploits, which are recounted in the books of Daniel and Jeremiah, were praised by Saddam Hussein, to whom he was a hero. Mr Skinner believes in this case there is also the phonetic difficulty that puts people off. It sounds very harsh with all those zeds. It's not very easy to pronounce, either.

3. Dorcas was a faithful female disciple full of good deeds whose death prompted much weeping, according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament. She is also known as Tabitha, a name that is much more commonly heard.

4. Saint Philemon was the recipient of an epistle from Saint Paul in the New Testament. But whereas the name Solomon, from the wise king, is often heard, Philemon rarely is.

5. Gomer was the wife of the prophet Hosea. To Anglo Saxon ears, there's a sort of masculinity about the sound of Gomer, says Mr Skinner. Feminine names tend to be lighter - Nicola, Pamela and so on. Men's names tend to be sharper, like John, Jack or Sid.

6. The oldest person named in the Bible, Methuselah, is said to have lived until he was 969. If we know one thing about him, it's that he was ancient - we use the phrase as old as Methulselah and so on. When you have a baby boy, you aren't going to picture him as a Methuselah. It also sounds quite Dickensian to modern ears, as do a lot of Old Testament names which were popular in the Victorian period like Ebenezer and Ezekiel.

7. Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, who offered her in marriage to Othniel in the Old Testament.

8. According to a story dating back to the 14th Century, Saint Wilgefortis took a vow of virginity when she was promised in marriage by her father. Following her prayers for help, she grew a beard and moustache.

9. Zipporah, wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, was mentioned in the Book of Exodus.

10. Radbod, or Radboud, was Bishop of Utrecht around 900 AD. This is another Anglo Saxon-sounding name that you might expect to catch on, says Mr Skinner. Maybe it just sounded too familiar. When you have a diversity of names, people sometimes pick sounds and concept they've never picked before. These days, this process has become a celebrity phenomenon.